April 2010 Archives

Just one of many camera-phone pics from our podcast host and editor. 
See more and follow his tweets at http://twitter.com/rtgirard

Probably the best craft beer festival in New York State has come to an end for another year.  If you were there, you were a winner.  But there were some other awards, too.

Best NYS craft brewery: Horseheads Brewing

Best beers in NYS:

• Gold: Maibock by John Harvard's Brew House
• Silver: Captain's Reserve Imperial IPA by Captain Lawrence Brewing
• Bronze: Massive IPA by Great South Bay Brewery
  

Best Craft Brewery in the Hudson Valley: Adirondack Pub and Brewery

Best beers in Hudson Valley:

• Gold: Whiskey Porter by Brown's Brewing (check out our podcast)
• Silver: Captain's Reserve Imperial IPA by Captain Lawrence Brewing
• Bronze: Dirty Blonde by Adirondack Pub and Brewery
  

Complete winners list going back several years here: http://www.tap-ny.com/previous_winners.html

MORE TAP WRAP

• Check out the Foaming Head blog for TAP New York video and follow their tweets
• Read this article about the event from The Daily Mail
• The Albany Times Union blogs about winner Brown's Brewing

The organizers of TAP-NY have announced 36 confirmed New York breweries for TAP-NY this weekend, a new record.  First-time attenders include Fire Island Beer Co., Middle Ages Brewery and Empire Brewing Company.

As of today, only 200 tickets remain for Saturday, assumably more for Sunday.  Visit the official TAP-NY site to purchase your tickets.  Saturday tickets are $59 and Sunday tickets are $45 before the day of the event.  Designated driver tickets are $20.

The first confirmed acts for the Saranac Concert Series are in:

• June 4th - Moe. - $27, $32 day of show
• June 5th - Moe. - $27, $32 day of show
• July 30th - Dark Star Orchestra - $22, $26 day of show

The concerts are held in the courtyard of the FX Matt Brewery in Utica, NY, which makes for a great venue.  Not a bad view to be had, and good beer too.

Also - mark your calendar for the first Saranac Thursday of the year: May 27th.

For more information the Saranac Concert Series, check the official page.

For an idea of the venue, check out this video from last year's Blues Traveler show:

In the Syracuse area and looking for something beer-related this weekend?  Saturday MOST (Museum of Science and Technology) will be hosting Tap into the MOST with music, food, and of course, beer.  Notably featuring: Cooperstown Brewing Co., Ommegang, Brooklyn Brewery, Syracuse Suds Factory, Empire Brewing, and Ithaca Beer Co.

More information at the Syracuse New Times.

An interesting tidbit on New York State's rich brewing history from the Brooklyn Daily Eagle:

After 130 years in operation, the Schaefer Brewery closed its production facilities in Brooklyn on March 29, 1976. New Yorkers were chiefly imbibing ales, stouts and porters of the English style until the 1840s, when German braumeisters began to arrive on the New World shores with the lagers devised by their ingenious Bavarian forebears...

You can read the rest of this article here.